The second I stepped into Carrie’s room, I felt it–that wave of disgust crashing over me just from looking at her.
She flinched when she saw me, but only for a second. Then she slipped that practiced mask back on like it was second
nature.
“Christian, what are you doing here so late?” she said softly, her voice laced with just the right amount of guilt and fake
sweetness. “About today… I’m not mad at you anymore. I know you only did it because of Blair-”
“Shut up.”
Smack!
I didn’t hesitate. My hand flew across her face.
The sharp slap cut her bullshit short. She hit the floor, cheek already swelling red. She clutched her face and looked up at me, wide–eyed in disbelief, tears welling up instantly.
“Christian… how could you hit me?” she whimpered, trembling like some fragile little thing.
But I was done with the act. I lunged forward, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her back down.
“You’re still trying to lie your way out of this?!”
My grip tightened without even realizing it. She started clawing at my arms, mouth opening and closing, trying to speak-
but no sound came out. Her face turned purple. Her eyes lost focus.
Finally, I let go.
She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, a nasty red mark blooming across her neck. I didn’t give her a second to
recover–I yanked her up by the hair and forced her to look at me.
“Carrie. That cancer you claimed you had–was it real, or was it another one of your damn lies?!”
Lysander and the others were frozen, stunned by what they were hearing. They stared at her like they were seeing a total
stranger.
She didn’t answer.
I shoved her away. Her head slammed into the edge of the table, and blood instantly trickled down from her forehead. But
none of us moved.
No one ran to her, no one called her “little girl.”
I stepped forward, pulled out every report, every document, every damn piece of evidence I had–and threw them at her
one by one. The sharp corners of the paper sliced her skin, adding more blood to the floor.
“Everything’s here–every lie, every fake report! What more do you want to say?!”
Lysander crouched down and picked up one of the files.
Just one sentence on the medical report: In good health.
Chapter 13
11.30%
I saw the blood in his eyes, the crushing disappointment on his face.
“Why?” he whispered, his voice shaking. “Why would you lie about something like that?”
And just like that, her expression cracked. She knew it was over–everything was over.
The room went deathly still.
“Tell us the truth,” I said coldly, my voice deadly cold. “All of it.”
She flinched. Then broke. “The cancer… it was a lie. I made it up… I lied to all of you…” she sobbed, the words spilling out
like filth from her mouth.
I closed my eyes for a second. That wasn’t relief I felt–it was a boulder of rage and shame crashing down on my chest,
stealing the air from my lungs.
“And the rest?” I pushed.
She broke completely, spilling out every last detail through her tears.
“I did it all… the snake in the gift box–I put it there; I was trying to frame Blair… The photos from the birthday party–I hired
someone to take them… and everything that happened after… every single thing… it was me…”
The more she said, the heavier my heart sank.
I looked at her–bloody, crying, on her knees, begging for mercy–and I realized I couldn’t see even a shred of the girl I once
trusted… once protected.
That sweet, innocent little girl I thought I knew? Just a snake hiding behind a pretty mask.
And suddenly, Blair’s eyes from that last day came back to me–tired, lonely… but still so damn strong.
She was dead–her body still missing at the bottom of that cliff–and only now were we seeing the truth.
But she would never hear our apologies.
I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my skin. All I felt was rage. And regret. Burning me alive.
